I was asked to write a book on Barling and I politely declined. It would involve a lot of research work for the 12 people who would be interested. Besides, I'm at best, a clumsy writer.I think sitting in the backwoods of Oregon you would have plenty of time to write a pipe smoking book.
I also remember reading that in the early 1900s Dunhill sourced its pipes from France and had some of the fit and finish done by other companies in London.
Dunhill would have sourced stummels from France, like everyone else. It was a common practice to buy stummels from France, finish,stain, and mount them in the UK.
When Dunhill was first setting up their own factory they also outsourced from already established Makers, I seem to recall reading that Charatan was one of them, in order to meet demand.
There are a lot of stories, some of them even true, but one that seems to make sense is that there were more skilled carvers in France than in Great Britain. It's what Comoy went on record as claiming during the 1928 fracas mentioned above.